The Joys of a Greenfield Culture



Posted: Friday, October 16, 2009

by
Brash Consulting

As the Australian winter is over for another year, the locals are celebrating this week in the wake of the rugby union team Melbourne Storm's victory over its interstate rival. Most would agree that to appear in four consecutive grand finals and win two as the Storm has now done is an indication of sustained excellence in anyone's language. It's worth asking how an organisation sustains exceptional performance in a demanding context. Theirs was a 'greenfield' culture 11 years ago when they began and everything they created was built from the ground up. This was not the case for the team administered by their CEO before he came to the Storm. Three years ago he was running the St Kilda Football Club; a club marred in the past by controversy, with a reputation as a disco culture in the 80's and early 90's and quite lucky according to its former coach, Grant Thomas, to exist after more than a century of dismal finals results. Theirs was a team that had notched up only one premiership in around one hundred years.

Not every organisation has the luxury of building their culture from scratch. If we take high performing football teams that used to be marred in controversy as examples, we see even organisations with notorious legacy cultures can change. That is heartening if we think about how many companies around the globe are trying to do that as we speak.

How do we drive a winning culture?

1. Companies must have a crystal clear picture of whre they are going. Their people need to 'get it'. For football clubs this might be paraphrased as "winning premierships on a sustained basis" and perhaps also "making our players into better people by the time they leave our Club". Whilst these visions may also be accompanied by tribal passion, big dollars, high player profile, their formula is compelling as a blueprint for any successful organisation.

2. Organisations must remember to inspire their people about why the business exists and successfully attach a social or moral cause to strategic goals. People have to connect emotionally with why they do what they do. That is, they need to be 'moved by it'. Too often leaders dwell on what has to happen i.e. business outcomes and forget to actively promote why that matters.

3. Professional sporting teams jealously guard good culture and show in their actions they are prepared to do what it takes to preserve it. Whatever the organisation's code, their people need to 'live by it'. Whereas in the past few years, international attention surrounded Cricket's legendary spinner, Shane Warne, there has been a lot of publicity in the past two weeks about famous football player scandals and improprieties. It appears that one Victorian football team, Carlton, has made good on its promise to trade Brendan Fevola, a decision more remarkable when one considers he has been their leading goal scorer for several consecutive years.

How is that relevant to us? Every organisation has their perforer who is good for business even if they frequently attract attention for "doing naughty stuff". What message does it send to clients, suppliers and "players", when the ends justify any means? What are the parallels between successful sporting and other organisations? Yes, a football club in any code enjoys important differences to other enterprises. Governemnt agencies do not win golden cups nor can they sack "players" easily but they are trying to assign tasks, kick goals and need focus adn discipline to be successful. They also need to manage their brand, attract sponsorship dollars and talent. They need to create the optimal environment for success; leveraging success factors and crashing through the barriers to that success.

Enlightened organisations act intentionally and shape the behaviour they get by the effort they go to to model and reward it.

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Leanne Faraday-Brash MMgmt BA Hons(Melb) MAPsS,is an Organisational Psychologist, executive coach, speaker and facilitator with two decades of experience in organisational capability, culture,workplace justice, conflict resolution and leadership. Leanne is Principal of Brash Consulting and co-founder of the Workplace Justice Consortium. Visit her website at http://www.brashconsulting.com.au or Leanne's blog at www.leannefaradaybrash.com
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